Sarasota Evening Toastmasters Typical Meeting How Does It Look in Practice?

Before reading the mechanics of how a meeting is run, you may be interested in knowing what benefits you’ll receive by attending a meeting and becoming a member!

• You are going to learn how to comfortably present your ideas to a public gathering of people.

• Additionally, you’ll learn what components comprise a well-organized speech or presentation.

• You are going to receive encouragement, along with loving, constructive criticism that will help you gain confidence and improve your skills.

• Soon, you’ll become more effective in group and public settings.

As you attend more meetings you will also become an evaluator for other members. By helping others and noticing their improvement you will enhance your own ability and knowledge. No matter what level of speaker you are, you can expect to improve and grow. Hope to see you soon.

And now, the actual mechanics of how a Toastmasters meeting is run.

• A typical meeting starts promptly at 6 PM with our Sergeant of Arms who calls the meeting to order. Next, our Club President introduces the Toastmaster. The Toastmaster of the evening is responsible for scheduling the speakers and other participants prior to the meeting. During the meeting the Toastmaster acts as a master of ceremonies, introducing each speaker in turn.

• Toastmaster introduces the theme of the evening and scheduled speakers. These speeches typically last 5-7 minutes, although some of the advanced speeches can be much longer. All speeches have goals set by the Toastmasters manuals. For example, the goal of one speech might be to practice vocal variety or body gestures.

• The Toastmaster introduces the first of the prepared speeches. The first speaker gives his or her presentation. A light indicates to the speaker that he/she is approaching the end of their allotted time. 

• The same procedure is followed with the second speaker, third, sometimes fourth... At the end of all the prepared speeches a Timer's report is again given, and we vote for the best speech.

• Toastmaster introduces the Table Topics Master who is responsible for preparing 3-6 topics -- some members will be surprised with those topics and will speak on that topic for 2 minutes. Those topics range from serious news to humorous questions.

• The Table Topics Master calls on members to speak impromptu, after that a Timer's report is given, then members vote for the best table topic Speech. An award is given at the end of the meeting for The Best Table Topics speech.

• The Toastmaster introduces the General Evaluator who will introduce the Evaluators for the prepared speeches. All evaluations in Toastmasters have plenty of positive feedback (what was done well) as well as suggestions for improvement. 

• The Evaluators give their evaluations of the speeches. Since speeches in the Toastmasters manuals have goals, the evaluation usually focuses on how well those goals were met. For example, did the speaker use vocal variety effectively or did they use helpful body gestures? Evaluations should last from 2 to 3 minutes. 

• The Timers report is given, and we vote for the best evaluation.

• The Ah Counter reports on the number of ah's each speaker has used. Ah's are frequently used as filler when one does not know what to say. They detract from the speech and consequently are to be avoided. This simple job of counting them acts to greatly reduce the number of ah's used.

• A the end of the meeting, the Toastmaster presents the awards for best table topics, speech, and evaluation. The President closes the meeting.

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